Most people have difficulty in removing the closure of a container filled with carbonated beverage or sparkling wine. In this application such beverages will often be referred to collectively as champagne and their closures as a cork or stopper. However, the invention is not limited by such nomenclature. Various devices have been offered to make the job of extracting the champagne cork convenient, although none of these devices has been entirely successful in making the task easier or safer. Devices for removing champagne corks have included a plier-like device which grips the free end or head of the cork. To operate this device one must apply force from the plier-like handle located on a horizontal plane with the cork. Accordingly, a great amount of force is needed to raise the cork vertically from the bottle because the force is not applied axially from above the cork.
Another device contains a grip that engages both the upper and lower surfaces of the head of a champagne cork with a hook and angular flanges. This device is operated by gripping the bottle neck with one hand and turning a cork extractor crank with the other hand in a circular motion. This cranking motion appears to require the expenditure of a great deal of time and energy to exert the necessary vertical force to raise a cork from its bottle. Still another device uses bifurcated jaws engageable about the neck of a bottle between the shoulder and the mouth of a bottle for engagement of the upper jaw below the head of a stopper; spreading the jaws forces the stopper upward against a retaining arm. The handle of this device extends horizontally from the head of the cork to be removed. To remove the cork, the jaws of the device are spread by manipulating the handles, operated from one side of the bottle. Devices such as described above include those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,722,327; 3,800,345; and 4,018,110. None of the prior art devices shown approaches the present invention in simplicity, ease of operation, and safety.